Florence Nightingale wrote in her 1860 book, Notes on Nursing: “A small pet animal is often an excellent companion for the sick…… A pet bird in a cage is sometimes the only pleasure of an invalid confined for years to the same room.”

Taking note of their wisdom, many people are now discussing enlightened thinkers like Nightingale and Singer and saying let’s not even call them “pets”. Why not try something new or ten times better? Let’s not even say “drunk as a skunk” or ” sly as a fox” or “dumb as a sheep”. Sheep are not dumb they are very clever at being sheep. Much cleverer than you or I.